Sliding vane compressor



Jan. 11, 1949. D. w. MEGEBER SLIDING VANE COMPRESSOR I Filed May 28, 1945 62 H63 FIG.4

Patented Jan. 11, 1949 SLIDING VANE COMPRESSOR David W. Megeber, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware Application May 28, 1945, Serial No. 596,285

2 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to an improved vane and shoe construction for use in a compressor.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved vane construction wherein a vane shoe is positively held in place within a socket which is provided at the outer end of the vane.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive arrangement for holding the vane shoe in position relative to the vane.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a pin and slot connection between the shoe and the vane without materially aifecting the sealing capacity of the vane and shoe.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a 4-vane rotary compressor using my improved vane construction;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the vane shoe;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the outer end of a vane with the shoe removed;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the vane with the shoe removed; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale showing the relationship between the vane shoe and the vane.

The arrangement disclosed herein is primarily intended for use in a vane type of compressor such as shown in the Rolf M. Smith application Serial No. 596,287, filed May 28, 1945,-and entitled Refrigerating apparatus." In such a compressor the vanes are 'held in engagement with the wall of the compressor cylinder by a combination of centrifugal force and fluid pressure with the result that the vanes are free to move away from the cylinder wall when the compressor stops. However, the construction also units, comprising a vane l8 and a shoe 22 carried thereby, are adapted to reciprocate during operation of the pump.

The outer end of each vane I8 is provided with a recess or socket within which a vane shoe 22 is adapted to oscillate. Referring to Fig.

5 it will be noted that each shoe is provided with a flattened portion 2| which has a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the main cylinder wall and a more rounded portion 23 which fits within the socket 20. Upon rotation of the shaft it each shoe is caused to oscillate within its socket by reason of the rotation of the rotor Within the cylinder It. The inner surface of the socket 20 extends throughout an are greater than 180 whereby the shoe is prevented from falling out of its socket so long as more than 180 of the shoe surface 23 contacts within the socket 20. In order to prevent less than 180 contact, each shoe is provided with a pin 24 which is arranged to operate within a recess 26 arranged as shown. A narrow slot 28 extends from the recess 26 t0 the upper end of the vane and makes it possible to assemble the shoe relative to the vane by inserting the vshoe into the vane socket from the upper end 10f the vane and passing the pin 24 down through the slot 28 until it is lined up with the recess 26. The recess 26 allows only the neceshas advantages in other types of compressorsv wherein the vane shoes are mechanically held in engagement with the cylinder wall during operation of the compressor; Referring now to the drawing wherein I hav shown a four-vane compressor embodying my improved vane and shoe construction, reference numeral I0 designates a conventional compressor cylinder within which a rotor I2 is adapted to operate in accordance with well-known practice. Reference numeral l4 designates the drive shaft which is connected to a suitable motor for causing rotation of the rotor l2. The rotor I 2 is provided with vane slots l6 within which vane sary amount of oscillation of the shoe within the vane socket and the pin 2t prevents the shoe from oscillating beyond the point where less than of the shoe circumference would be engaged within the socket 20. By virtue of the above described arrangement, it is possible for the vanes i8 to move inwardly within the vane slots l6 when the compressor comes to a stop or is operating at slow speed without danger of any of the shoes falling out of their sockets.

The enlarged recess 26, in combination with the slot 28, forms a substantially key-shaped slot with the narrow end of the slot exposed at the upper end of the vane. The small amount of material which needs be removed to form the narrow slot 28 is not enough to materially affect the leakage of gaS past the upper end of the vane.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a rotary pump, a housing having a corn pressionchamber therein, said housing including port openings for the ingress and egress of fluid. a rotor mounted for rotation in said chamber,

vane, said arcuate recessed portion on said vane extending throughout an are greater than 180 for locking said shoe to said vane against relative movement therebetween in a direction transverse to the direction of extension of said arcuate portions, said arcuate recessed portion of said vane having a slot therein extending longitudinally therewith from one end of the vane to a point inwardly of said end thereof, and said shoe having a stop movable into said slot upon inserting said arcuate surface portion of the shoe into said arcuate recessed portion of the vane through said one end thereof for limiting the oscillation of said shoe relative to said vane.

2. In a rotary pump, a housing having a compression chamber therein, said housing including port openings for the ingress and egress of fluid, a rotor mounted for rotation in said chamber, a unit comprising a vane and a shoe slidable within said rotor, said unit being loosely held within said rotor and movable outwardly thereof during its rotation to cause said shoe to engage the wall of said chamber for separating the incoming fluid from the outgoing fluid,.said unit being freely retractable when the rotor stops rotating to cause disengagement of said shoe from said chamber wall, said vane having an areuate recessed portion cooperating with an arcuate surface portion on said shoe permitting oscillating movement of said shoe relative to the vane, said arcuate recessed portion on said vane extending throughout an arc greater than 180 for locking said shoe to said vane against relative movement therebetween in a direction transverse to the direction of extension of said arcuate portions, said arcuate recessed portion of said vane having a substantially key-shaped slot extending longitudinally therewith, the wide portion of said key-shaped slot being disposed inwardly of one end of the vane and the narrow portion thereof extending outwardly to said one end of the vane, and said shoe having a stop insertable through the narrow portion of said slot upon moving said arcuate surface portion of the shoe into said arcuate recessed portion of the vane for cooperation with the wide portion of said slot to limit the oscillation of said shoe relative to said vane.

DAVID W. MEGEBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Richmann Sept. 15, 1891 Shore Aug. 10, 1915 Ensign Apr. 13, 1926 Matchette et a1 Feb. 24, 1914 the Number 

